Atheism - from the Greek word atheos, meaning "without gods". Theism is a belief in a deity or deities, and the "a" prefix means "without". An atheist is simply lacking belief in a god or gods. Atheism does not make any positive assertions about gods, or lack thereof, it is WITHOUT. This covers a lot of different kinds of people, because the term does not have any positive assertions associated with it. This means that there are no dogmas, no claims, no creeds, nothing. It is an absence of a belief, it is not a belief in absence.

Skepticism - from the Greek word skeptikoi meaning "seekers" or "inquirers" and skepteon meaning "we must investigate this" (Plato). Skepticism is the application of reason to any and all ideas. Skeptical does not mean "doubting" or "cynical", it means "to inquire". The child who constantly asks "why" is a natural skeptic. Skepticism is not a position; it's a process - a process of learning. The scientific method is central to skepticism. Skepticism is an essential, and meaningful, component of the search for truth.

There are a lot of misconceptions about both skepticism and atheism, so let's get into more detail about each term individually.